Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I N O. I I S O U T H E R N M A I N E "I 'm hoping our house will be over there with a daylight basement," Betsy St.Pierre says in a snowy field off of Nathan Smith Road in Hollis. She's standing on land she bought with inheritance money — 45 acres for her family, and 35 acres for a dozen other houses. Not your typical property developer, St.Pierre stepped into the role after a house search turned up empty and took the plunge to buy the land and create a subdivision. She's named it Totem Pines, inspired by a song by Canadian rock band Rush and the property's totem pole-like white pines. "It's kind of really come together and interesting to see it unfold," St.Pierre, human resources manager at Scarborough-based Town & Country Federal Credit Union, says of the evolving plan. "It's like a magical moment in time." is is also a bustling moment for home construction and residential development across southern Maine, mirroring a national trend. at's keeping companies in a host of sectors busy — from architects, developers and suppliers to brokers and bankers — and pouring money into the economy. A flurry of home remodeling activity dur- ing the pandemic is doing the same. Among larger-scale developments, residential construction at the Downs in Scarborough is progressing at a fast clip on 525 acres being transformed into a new "live-work-play" community. "We're building a community, not just a subdivision," says Peter Michaud of Crossroads Holdings Inc. during an afternoon site visit. Green open spaces are a key component, like the small "pocket parks" in the town center residential area currently under construction, and trails used by people already living there. With 200 and 300 construction workers on site every day, Michaud puts the project's economic impact through August 2020 at $80 million, saying, "We're damn proud of that." He predicts that to double in the next 18 months, adding, "Whatever we do at the Downs is good for the state of Maine, and there's your evidence." F O C U S P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R JA N UA R Y 2 5 , 2 0 2 1 10 Betsy St.Pierre, a bank HR manager, points to the location of her future house on her property in Hollis. She used family inheritance to buy 78 acres on a subdivision she created and named Totem Pines. THE DOWNS: RESIDENTIAL SNAPSHOT THE DOWNS: RESIDENTIAL SNAPSHOT MILL VILLAGE: 30 single-family units, 48 apartments, 48 condos and 12-bed memory care home built and occupied; 39 senior affordable units under construction and 38 planned TOWN CENTER: 23 single-family, 58 apartments and 54 condos under construction; 8 single-family, 18 townhouses and 2 duplexes in permitting. S O U R C E : Maine Listings, National Association of Realtors, Freddie Mac MEDIAN HOME PRICES, BY YEAR (SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER) PERMITS FOR SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLINGS FUN FACTS Homeowners in Portland and South Portland typically stay for 12 years in their homes, or 1 year less than the national median. Mortgage rates were last this low in 1971, the year "All in the Family" was the top-rated TV show, Canonero II won the Kentucky Derby and Richard Nixon was president. Homeward BOUND Low borrowing rates, surging demand fuel southern Maine home building, remodeling boom B y R e n e e C o R d e s Cumberland County York County Maine United States 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019: 666 2019: 529 2020: 722 2020: 593 Cumberland County York County $0 $400K $350K $300K $250K $200K $150K $100K $50K +16.7% +22.7% +20% +15.1%

• Cover